Hey. I'm just getting into photography, and after quite a bit of research, I've pretty much decided on the Nikon D40. Since I know next to nothing about photography, I don't know which lenses to get. I've read that the 18-55 and the 55-200 are both good lens for beginners. Should I get both? or can I just get one now, and get the other later?

I also have a couple lenses from my dad's Nikon F4 (its fairly old...~18 years?). Can I reuse them on the D40?

Nikkor AF 35-70mm 1:2.8D

Nikkor ED AF 80-200mm 1:2.8D

I'm thinking that I can get the D40 + 18-55 II lens and reuse my dad's 80-200. Please correct me if this isn't a good decision.

Those are both very good lenses you list. Both would sell new for over $1300 if they are Af-s lenses.

The beauty of Nikon is any old Nikkor lens will work on your camera. You may not have all the bells and whistles available, but those lenses will do the only thing you need it to do right now - focus light on the CCD so you can take a picture. You don't need fancy metering or autofocus, just an opportunity to take pics and learn the relationship between shutter speed and aperature, and how they impact your photos.